The leadership of
HopkinsOne has launched a series of actions to address
concerns, especially over training, that faculty and staff
raised in a recent large-scale survey of the software
system's users.

The new moves include additional training for both
end-users and support staff, the creation of new user
manuals and an increase in help line staff and hours.

HopkinsOne, the largest technological business systems
project in Johns Hopkins history, went live on Jan. 1. The
initiative was created to replace many of the business and
administrative systems of the university, Johns Hopkins
Health System and Johns Hopkins Medicine. The scope of the
project includes finance, human resources, payroll,
purchasing, accounts payable, materials management and
pre- and post-award research administration activities.

One of the main objectives of the project is to
improve business functions by introducing best practices
across all three entities to improve service, compliance
and productivity.

Stephanie Reel,
chief information officer for the university and health
system and a member of HopkinsOne's executive committee,
said that it became clear early on that aspects of this
complex system would require significant changes in how
current work is done.

"In a major and massive implementation like this,
which has changed everything everywhere, there are going to
be surprises and aspects of the system that do not
integrate as well as you thought into business practice or
the work flow," Reel said. "This is a huge implementation.
In my 17 years here, I've never seen anything this immense
applied so universally. In spite of it all, a lot of things
are working well. We are working so hard to deal with
issues as they arise."

The survey was sent to 9,800 users and was conducted
from March 30 to April 15. Of the more than 2,600 employees
who completed the survey, 72 percent said they were not yet
satisfied with the system, 21 percent had neutral feelings,
and 7 percent were satisfied. Many respondents, as
requested in the survey, provided a list of recommendations
for needed system and implementation changes.

Stephen Golding, executive program director of
HopkinsOne and director for financial affairs at the School
of Medicine, said that receiving the detailed feedback has
been very constructive, and he praises the support from
what have been "very engaged users."

"We really appreciate the tremendous response we
received. We wanted to ensure that we had every opportunity
to listen to user concerns and recommendations," Golding
said. "This survey allowed users to voice their concerns
and tell us how to improve the system. Basically, we wanted
to listen and react, which we are doing."

Respondents commented on issues such as the inability
to have "hands-on" exposure to the "real" system during
training, and the need for more post-live support and
follow-up training. Users also said that initial training
depended too much on online courses laden with jargon.

Other significant issues expressed were that most
tasks require additional time or staff to complete, and
that security and work flow are inconsistent with access
and approval requirements.

In response, HopkinsOne staff and university trainers
have conducted more than 280 workshops, reaching more than
2,500 employees; extended help center staffing; formed user
groups to provide peer help; crafted new user documentation
and training aids; and are creating an online "issues"
list. In addition, a completely new training strategy has
been developed to extend practical, hands-on training.

Reel said that HopkinsOne staff are also working,
within the boundaries of what is possible in the SAP
software, to make the system more user-friendly.

In the coming months, HopkinsOne will double the
number of workshops and Q&A training sessions for
end-users. It also will form rapid response teams to
address critical issues and provide training and
troubleshooting at the department level.

Other next steps include the formation of functionally
specific user groups to resolve problems and prioritize
efforts, and to work with the shared services center to
provide a greater level of outreach and user support.